As Oscar season looms, studios and publicists are eager to get their potential candidates out to meet and greet the media and voting members of the Academy. The event can be a panel, a Q&A session following a screening, or simply a dinner or drinks event. Speakeasy will be on hand to report on the events.

Theater troupes often create a sense of brotherhood, and the LAByrinth Theater Company is no exception. For a celebratory lunch in company member Michael Stuhlbarg’s honor this afternoon, in recognition of his work in the Coen Brothers’ “A Serious Man,” fellow LAB members Philip Seymour Hoffman and Michael Shannon showed up at the Monkey Bar in midtown Manhattan to support their guy. “They’re all my buddies,” Stuhlbarg said, noting that his Juilliard classmate Tim Blake Nelson was also in the room, as was Billy Crudup, his co-star from Martin McDonagh’s 2005 Broadway play “The Pillowman.”

Stuhlbarg says he’s on the usual awards season publicity tour for “A Serious Man,” in which he plays Larry Gopnik, a 1960s-era Jewish professor subjected to a Job-like series of unfortunate events. The role has nabbed Stuhlbarg a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor thus far, as well as the praise of his pals. “The film has this incredible sense of impending doom,” said Crudup. “Every time I see the poster with Michael’s character, it makes me realize I’m still digesting the themes of the film.”

Stuhlbarg as Larry in “A Serious Man.”

Focus Features

Stuhlbarg says that he doesn’t mind the press events, because he’s keen to get audiences to see the film (which has only grossed roughly $9 million to date). Some of the accompanying photo shoots are a different story, however. “They’re crazy. They ask you to put on really expensive, beautiful clothes and it’s a little intimidating.”

Luckily, the 41-year-old actor has another job to keep him grounded during awards season: he’s currently filming HBO’s upcoming period series “Boardwalk Empire,” with Steve Buscemi as the king of 1920s Atlantic City. Stuhlbarg plays notorious Jewish gangster –and Lucky Luciano mentor — Arnold Rothstein. Said Stuhlbarg: “Rothstein was allegedly responsible for fixing the 1919 World Series, and was a gambler, bootlegger and racketeer — so it’s been a wonderful counterbalance to the press events.”